From DiscoverNikkei.org
Miné Okubo
Painter (1912-2001)
Born to Japanese immigrants in 1912 in Riverside, California, Miné Okubo followed her artistic interests from an early age. After receiving her bachelor’s and master’s of fine arts degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, she won the Bertha Taussig Traveling Scholarship, which allowed her to travel to Europe to study art, but World War II cut her stay short, and she returned to the United States. For a time, Okubo became a part of the Federal Arts Program and the Works Progress Administration, even working with the famous Mexican muralist, Diego Riviera. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, however, she was sent to an internment camp in Utah.
While incarcerated, Okubo channeled her emotions into her art. From her experiences there, she produced countless sketches, drawings, and paintings. Her book, Citizen 13600, is a collection of 206 of her drawings from camp, accompanied by her own commentary explaining the significance of each scene.
Using her art as her means of self-expression, Miné Okubo continued to serve as a voice for the Japanese American community throughout her life. The artist lived in New York City until her death at the age of 88 in February of 2001.
Sources:
Links
- Press release: "UCLA Amerasia Journal Honors Great American Artist Miné Okubo".
- Announcing the special issue of Amerasia Journal (vol. 30, no. 2, 2004), commemorating Okubo.
- Memorial: Phil Tajitsu Nash, "Washington Journal: Miné Okubo -- Artist, Activist, Visionary". AsianWeek, April 13-19, 2001.
- Phil Tajitsu Nash, "Washington Journal: Miné Okubo -- Celebrating Art". AsianWeek, December 15-21, 2000.
- Chiori Santiago, "Miné Okubo: An Appreciation". Nikkei Heritage IX, no. 1 (Winter 2002). (PDF)
- Gallery profile: Spencer Jon Helfen Fine Arts.
- Citizen 13660 (1946)
- Okubo's published account of her internment during World War II. Excerpted in: American Home Front in World War II: Primary Sources. Chapter 5: Black American and Japanese American Experiences on the Home Front, pp. 166-172.
- Mary H. Curtin and Theresa Larkin, "Miné: A Name for Herself". (National Museum of American History)
- "During this performance, stories of Okubo's experiences in the camps of Tanforan and Topaz were interwoven with her reminiscences about her later life as a New York artist as she shared her aesthetic principles and art with the audience."